I dunno if they are as "F'd Up" as the man says. I mean, isn't it natural for kids to withdraw into games and other forms of escapism whether they've been through a trauma or not? How can you tell the difference between an "F'ed Up" kid who plays games and one who isn't F'ed Up?

When I was a kid, when we'd see nasty things (dead animals, or fights between adults), it was sort of exciting and weird and disturbing, but hours later -- or at least days -- we were able to forget about it. We had short attention spans. Perhaps this is part of a general adaptablity and survival pattern for the young.

In any case, I feel for those children who have to grow up around such horros. I only hope that they are able to remain distant observers.

All media can be stored digitally as long as you don't care about having the original. Music, text, video...there are easy ways to transfer it to a digital format that takes almost no space to store.

For a painting, you simply need a good quality digital camera (you could also use a film camera but that would require additional steps). Mount the paining on an easel or other flat surface opposite the tripod-mounted camera, at least 6 feet away. Light the painting in medium light, preferably reflected light from at least three separate directions, nothing glarey. Do not use flash. Double-check your focus. Photograph the camera several times with different exposure settings. Make sure the camera is set to high resolution, or "fine," and is at least 6 megapixels.

You can take literally hundreds of photos of all your mother's paintings and save them to a single data CD. For safety, burn multiple copies of the CD and store them in separate locations. Maybe send a copy to a trusted sibling or friend to put away in a footlocker or chest along with other mementos. CDs do not last forever, but you can always burn additional copies, or create high-quality print-outs in the size of your choosing.

You could always save the paintings by removing the canvas from the frames and rolling them up in tubes, which are easily put in storage in the back of a closet. This may seem like a sad fate for the paintings, but it's better than throwing them away. I agree with Cary that you should appraise them. Depending on how amateurish they are, they might not be worth anything, but chances are the frames are worth something and can be sold via traditional methods. You might also consider donating the paintings to a charity that would like them.

As for the digital images, don't just leave them on a CD -- use them for something. You could make a personal website paying homage to your mother's artwork, with a gallery of her paintings and captions and other text describing memories of places and times when your mother painted them. Your friends and family would appreciate that, and it would give your mom's creativity a new life and broader audience. It's pretty easy to set up a basic gallery template and size photos for the web.

You could also use your mother's art as wallpaper on your computer, or print out smaller versions of it that you could crop, edit and place in a way that fits your aesthetic. Maybe your mom's paintings don't fit well with large frames taking up whole walls, but perhaps in another configuration they would be just right.

I am sure these images must be a part of you, and provoke a lot of feelings and memories. It is a shame to just get rid of them. I hope you will find the right solution for your minor dilemma. That said, there is something to be said for clearing away the "things" in our life -- we can't take it with us in any case. Sometimes it is better to dispose of objects in a meaningful ritual than to thoughtlessly let them clutter up our space. (I used to save old letters from girlfriends, then one night I decided it was stupid to save them, so I opened a bottle of wine and read them one by one, sipping wine and getting a little teary eyed as I tossed each letter into the fire.)

I applaud Garrison's paean to the simple joys of walking, but I gotta tell you -- it just isn't the same in Phoenix, Arizona. Sure, in New York you can see 1,000 interesting things in just 5 blocks, but try walking down 7th Ave. between Bethany Home Road and Indian School Road and finding it anything other than dreary. Good luck with that. All you'll see is an ocean of asphalt peppered with strip malls and dilapidated fast-food joints, and they just seem to repeat like some sort of horrible "Scooby Doo" background.

"Mmm, what's that lovely spring smell I'm inhaling?"

"Why, it's a combination of carbon monoxide and dust!"

"Mmmmm...."